American Hotel

A favorite place for good olé homemade food and friendly people. The holiday decorations set off its historic style. Our go-​to place for a simple meal in a relaxing setting. Like visiting small town family.

Like a traveling through time, the American Hotel can be a little disorienting, but it is so worth it.
Drinks are affordable, the food is good, the soups are AMAZING, and the atmosphere…
Let me tell you about the atmosphere. Such a special space. Filled with great special people. Seriously, the American Hotel is like a trip back in time.

Totally enjoyed the creamy carrot-​ginger soup. Along with a luscious tuna melt on toasted rye, and a fine pint of Rohrbach’s Wee Heavy Scotch Ale to chase the goodness, I felt as if I’d found a very special eatery. My local friends who introduced me to AH claim they make the 20 mile trip to Lima from Rochester a couple times a week. What a find!

This place is FANTASTIC. It has a warm, relaxed, old fashioned, European atmosphere. The food was prepared quickly and was especially tasty; the service was prompt and courteous. We had two different kinds of soup, a great burger, and a wonderful egg salad sandwich. And free cookies and a great big glass of bourbon. I’ll plan to spend a weekend here next. I love it!

GROSS!!! The American Hotel is a sad reminder of what happens to historic properties that are not maintained appropriately. Old, dirty, cracked and crumbling are just a few of the words that describe the current state of this establishment. No one in their right mind would book a stay in the hotel if they knew the state of disrepair that awaits. The restaurant dining area is dingy and very poorly maintained. I was saddened to think that this was a wonderful place in days gone by. Today it’s just a dump that probably should be closed unless the current owners would be willing to spend several million dollars to make repairs, clean and bring the American Hotel back to it’s former splendor.
The menu at the restaurant consisted of different soups and very basic sandwiches. The waitress was also the cook and the busser and the bartender. I think she was the owner too. She recommended the yellow split pea with barley soup, which was served very hot in an old and dull blue melamine bowl with six crackers on a matching plate. The soup was thinner and not as flavorful as I would expect from a split pea soup and the gross bowl made my stomach turn. Overall impression = gross. I ordered a grilled cheese sandwich on rye bread. I selected cheddar and swiss cheese and although I thought I could see the swiss cheese on the bread, it had no taste. The bread was greasy but it was from grease and not butter. So gross. The sandwich was served on a very small Syracuse china bread plate with 2 pickles. Chips were at the bar and were extra.
Cost of lunch = $ 2.50 for soda, $ 1.00 for refill, $ 5.95 for sandwich and $ 4.50 for the soup. Frankly, I wanted to leave and throw up in the parking lot. It was that gross.

The restaurant and bar are OK (the much-​celebrated soups are actually hit or miss), but the hotel is not adequate for anyone with other options.
We reserved a room with no private bath, just a shower and a sink. The sink was dirty and rusting away, the shower was right out of a prison, the window had large cracks, and the room had stains, dirty accessories, crumbling dressers, and pillows marked «Property of Aid to Hospitals.» The shower was surrounded by peeling linoleum, and the carpet was poor office-​grade. It’s the worst hotel room I’ve ever stayed in. The staff were polite and the price was low, but the facilities were terrible.
The following weren’t dealbreakers, but didn’t help: There are no B&B amenities such as breakfast, but nor is there maid service. Wifi is available in the restaurant area, but not in the rooms.

A very beautiful old hotel, worth a view and a drink, and the people working there were absolutely lovely… but neither of the soups we had were anything we would eat again (3 sisters and sweet and sour pork). Both were far too sweet and oddly flavored. The sandwich was fine, but none of the food was really worth the price. Strictly a place to appreciate ambience — but since there’s little else in Lima to choose from, it’s acceptable.

So adorable. I absolutely love it. Everything is homemade and they even sell their recipes! With the check they don’t give you mints or chocolates, they give you homemade cookies!

Live fiddle music in the background on the Sunday we stopped by — a nice touch for anyone looking for a time machine ride with their meal.
Soups were really wonderful with modest portions. We followed a previous review recommendation and went old school with liverwurst and fried bologna sandwiches, topped with thick slices of onions…(perhaps a little too authentic for most patrons under 65). Great 90 year old bar in the back, homemade cookies with the check, plus an interesting history of the place printed on the menu. Not the cheapest soup and sandwich combo in the world, but a nice pitstop for a slice of upstate’s past.

Such a beautiful, old school bar. Love it here.

I love this place! It has been passed down in the family for decades, and has an old time feel to it. Rose, the cook who makes all the amazing soups, has her own cookbook you can buy there to try to recreate her delicious concoctions. They serve sandwiches and soups. That’s it, except for seasonal side salads (mac, potato). They typically have 5 – 6 soups daily, and serve them piping hot. Pat, the bartender, makes a good bloody mary. They also have a spicy mustard you have to ask for that is tasty on all their sandwiches. This is not a fancy place. That’s what makes it great. Highly recommend if you want some excellent homemade fare off the beaten path.